Capalla slay case: Rap junked

Romeo Capalla

ILOILO CITY—The murder complaint against the suspects in the killing of fair trade executive Romeo Capalla has been trashed amid an outcry of international fair trade groups against the failure of law enforcement agencies to solve his killing.

In an eight-page resolution dated July 28 and received by parties to the case on

Aug. 11 and 12, Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor Bernabe Dusaban dismissed the complaint against Julie Cabino and four other unidentified suspects for “insufficiency of evidence.”

Police and a witness have tagged Cabino as among several armed men who repeatedly shot Capalla on March 15 in front of the public market of Oton town, about 7 kilometers south of Iloilo City.

Capalla, 65, died from gunshot wounds in the head. He chaired the board of directors of the Oton-based Panay Fair Trade Center (PFTC) and was PFTC general manager for more than 12 years.

PFTC organizes and trains farmers to produce and sell natural and organic products for local and international markets. It buys organic muscovado sugar and bananas at prices higher than the mainstream market from farmers and exports these to fair trade organizations in Europe and Asia.

Honorio Sandoval, a village watchman assigned to the Oton public market and one of the police’s witnesses, identified Cabino from a rogues’ gallery.

Cabino allegedly served as the backup of a gunman whose firearm jammed after another gunman shot Capalla twice.

But in his resolution, Dusaban cited the repeated failure of Sandoval to identify Cabino when they were brought to Dusaban’s office on May 23.

Dusaban also noted a disparity between an artist’s sketch of the suspect and Cabino’s facial characteristics.

Dusaban said the complaint filed by the Oton police office should be dismissed “as the identity of the perpetrator is a must to secure criminal conviction, much less establish probable cause.”

Senior Supt. Cornelio Salinas, Iloilo police director, said they would file a motion for reconsideration and refile the case.

“We are not letting go of the case. There is no ineptness (on the filing of the complaint). We will look for additional witnesses,” Salinas told the Inquirer.